Whirlwind Tour of Nimes

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A reasonably long drive from Monpellier to Aix en Provence calling into Nimes and Avignon.

Popped into Nimes for a three hour city tour. Nimes won the award for nicest carpark - you could almost see your reflection in the newly painted floor, there was pleasant elevator music playing throughout, and it was minus any hint of carpark urine aroma. There are three major sites to see in Nimes and we started with the Roman Temple (Maison Carree) in the middle of the city. Nimes was founded, as most of the cities and towns in the south of France, by the Romans to safeguard the passage between Spain and Rome. Nimes was described by Augustus as the 'jewel in the Roman crown' and this temple was a gift to the town. It's an impressively intact building around 2000 years old set in the middle of a square and surrounded by modern office buildings.

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After wandering through the town we made it to the second site - Les Arenes. This is the most intact amphitheatre in the world (imagine a cross between the Colosseum and Wellington's stadium). It's still a fully functioning stadium that now holds 25000 people for bullfights today. Previously it was used for the usual Colosseum things (e.g. gladiator fights, human vs. bear fights and the execution of prisoners) and the tour had some pretty gruesome stories. It's 34 tiers high and gives some great views over town.

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Nimes itself is a very pretty town and we had a great time walking through some cool shops and cafes on our way back to the car. We would have loved to stay longer.

Interesting fact: Nimes is the birthplace of denim (the word means from Nimes). It was exporting its particular cloth to the States in the 19th century for sailmaking when Mr Levi Strauss decided to make a pair of trousers out of it. They sort of caught on and the rest is history.